Laser-induced damage in SiO2 and CaF2 with picosecond and femtosecond laser pulses

Single- and multiple-shot damage thresholds and plasma-emission thresholds for fused silica and CaF2 are reported for 790 nm photons as a function of laser pulse width (190 fs - 4.5 ps). The results are compared with single-shot plasma-emission measurements [1] and with multiple-shot damage measurements [2]. Both the damage threshold and the plasma-emission threshold are shown to decrease with decreasing pulse width over the entire pulse-width range investigated.